Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 4 – Nyree

(See if you can catch the Dragon Age 2 reference to Cassandra, “head of the Seekers”:)

Why it ain’t easy getting a hot meal in Thedas, after the jump:

As predicted, our Party of Five Four is now complete with Nyree the Reaver. She’s not only a Reaver, though — she’s a mercernary. I’m really digging that Saw Sword, too; it was a weapon of choice for much of my first Dragon Age playthrough with an Elvish Rogue.

Reavers feed on blood frenzy (kind of like Berserkers from other RPGs), and so the pain and death just makes them stronger. We didn’t get to see a lot of pain and death yet, but that makes Nyree a pretty decent ally agains a blood mage. And she’s a merc, so turning tail against her employer for someone who pays “20 times [her] going rate” is not unexpected at all.

You now, it’s actually a little refreshing that there’s now someone in the party who isn’t constantly flirting with Cairn (er, not to say that Josmael is…). And this state of affairs is somewhat indicative of how things go in the Dragon Age world: you have a pretty disparate group of people, and not all of them agree. But they get along to get the job done, usually through the strength of the personality of their leader (e.g “Tallis”). Or because they’re paid well (also Tallis).

There’s talking every episode, but this one was pretty much all talk and no action for a change. We get to hear Nyree’s backstory as a Nevarran innkeeper’s daughter-turned-dragon-slayer-turned-reaver. She also makes mention of being from “up north”, which I suppose isn’t strictly true if you look at a map of Thedas. But this world is interesting, because — given their concept of “north” — their continent is actually largely in the Southern hemisphere, making the northern climes actually quite tropical as they approach the equator. The north is also where most of the Qunari in Thedas live. (To find out what they’re doing in Kirkwall, you’ll just have to play Dragon Age II!)

We also get to find out “what happened last time” when Tallis failed the Qunari on a mission. It seems pretty light in comparison, and doesn’t answer the question (asked by Josmael) of who she loves — and has lost. I imagine that was one of her earlier offenses to which she alluded.

So while I’m enjoying these character pieces, we’re past the halfway point with only two more 7-9 minute installments left (AND a promise of a fight scene next episode). What IS Saarebas doing with that mask? He’s going to Sundermount, a place of ancient Elvish power — and featured in Dragon Age II where there is an existing Dalish camp. (DO WE GET TO SEE MERRILL???) It’s also a place where, in DA2, another ceremony has been performed.

Is Saarebas up to something similar with this creepy mask thing? How will the story get resolved in just two more installments, at its current pace? And just what was that little bit that Josmael picked up outside the cave, before leading his party on a “shortcut”? I’m sure that’s not going to come into play at all…

And — oh — it turns out they were surrounded by mercs the whole time. Can’t a girl just sit down and have some barely-passable food without getting run through or bludgeoned to death??

[UPDATE]

Oh! Also, Felicia Day has been updating her YouTube channel with commentaries! Check out the one for this episode, then go back and watch the rest: